World News and Trends: AIDS safe-sex campaigns ineffective
"... HIV infections are disturbingly common among gay men of all races in their 20s, especially considering that they grew up knowing how AIDS spreads," says an Associated Press report on the recent eighth annual Retrovirus Conference in Chicago.
One possible reason for this trend is that "homosexual men have grown complacent about catching HIV because effective treatments can hold the disease in check. Some of these gay men may be more likely to have risky sex." There is no known cure for AIDS. Drugs developed over the last few years, though, have proved effective in prolonging life with HIV, the AIDS virus.
The study, which surveyed 2,401 homosexuals 23 to 29 years old between 1998 and 2000, found remarkable differences in HIV infections among different racial groups. In large cities almost a third of homosexual black men were found to be infected, along with 15 percent of Hispanics, 7 percent of whites and 3 percent of Asians.
When the AIDS epidemic started 20 years ago, most of those with AIDS were homosexual white men. Now just over half of the 40,000 new HIV infections in the United States each year occur among blacks. Among women, infected blacks outnumber whites by almost four to one.
Although African-Americans and other blacks view these statistics with alarm, thousands of miles away the AIDS epidemic continues to affect large areas of Africa. In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa more than a quarter of adults are infected. In some villages virtually all adults in the peak sexually active years (15-45) have died, leaving grandparents to bring up children, many of whom were born with HIV.
Campaigns to promote safe sex do not seem to be working. The only real answer is the often-criticized but thoroughly effective biblical solution: no sexual activity outside of the marital relationship. (Source: Associate Press.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2001
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
